The Stuff Hot Five

Each week, we'll be counting down the five most important things in our world right now. The new gadgets that we're excited about - and that you should be excited about too. The games and apps we're desperate to play - and that we want you to enjoy too. The best phones and tablets and cameras and laptops and smartwatches and all the rest that we've reviewed that week - and that you should go out and buy.

Think of it as a condensed version of the whole site. But don't forget to read the rest of it too, eh?

5) The best phone just got better

If you've been reading Stuff India for a while, it is very evident that the OnePlus 3 has topped all our expectations. It's the perfect smartphone so to speak.

But OnePlus has taken a step ahead and launched the new OnePlus 3T while the 3 was already rocking the market. So what are the new changes you ask? For starters, the standard grey colour has been replaced with a sexier, dark Gunmetal Grey, which, if you ask us, looks absolutely ace. The only other external change is the rear camera’s sapphire glass cover, which should make it unscratchable by anything bar a diamond

Coming to the specs, the processing power has been upgraded to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 (also found in Google Pixel) and the front facing camera has been bumped up to 16MP.

The battery is a little larger at 3400mAh - that’s a whole 400 mAhs bigger! Though how much difference that’ll make, coupled with the newer processor, remains to be seen.

You’re probably going to want to know that the OnePlus 3T will hit shelves on 14 December in India, for ₹29,999 (64GB model) and 34,999 (128GB model).

4) DRIVE ME WILD: FINAL FANTASY XV

Could any game literally decades in the making be worth the wait? When we’re talking Final Fantasy, that answer is a definitive “Hell yeah!” - part epic road trip, part frantic action battler, 100% zany Japanese RPG madness. It’s a belter, whether you’re an FF fan or not.

Sure, the story is beyond baffling, and you’ll need to watch both the full-length CGI Kingsglaive movie and accompanying anime series to fully understand what’s going on for the first few hours, but honestly? That just doesn’t matter.

Grab your buddies, jump in your car, and drive. There’s a whole world of adventure out there, just begging to be explored.

3) HAVE A CHINWAG WITH YOUR MOTOR

You're more than likely familiar with Alexa, Amazon's handy electronic assistant which lives in its smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, and now it can live in your car too, thanks to Dashbot.

It's a tiny LED-littered module which sits on your dashboard with a built-in microphone which connects to your smartphone via an app, letting you make and receive calls, and even dictate message replies, using nothing but your glorious voice.

Alexa support means it'll do handy things like controlling your music library too, whether that's Spotify or Amazon's own Prime Music service, and you can even do clever things like set your heating to warm and toasty as you're driving home. Just don't start wearing a leather jacket and calling yourself The Hoff, alright?

2) NETFLIX GOES OFFLINE (IN A GOOD WAY)

If you’re a Netflix subscriber with patchy internet access, or someone that just travels a lot, this week brought some welcome news: the streaming service’s mobile apps are now supporting downloads for offline viewing, meaning you can store your favourite films and TV shows and watch them on the go, even when you don’t have Wi-Fi or a data connection.

No more will that Dr Pepper- and Dorito-fuelled binge session of Stranger Things need to stop for little things like a commute, a plane journey or a spot of spelunking. So update your app, log in and start downloading.

1) Stuff Gadget Awards 2016

Want to know what the best gadgets, games and apps of the year are? Then brace yourself for the 2016 Stuff India Gadget Awards.

Here we shortlist the best tech of 2016 that raised our eyebrows to ceiling-loving levels and tongues to the floor. (Sorry for that Looney Toons image)

These shortlists will give you a rundown of what is the best tech in each category and also our award winner among them. But hang on, we still have a few debates, arguments and fist fights remaining to crown the best ones in each category.

Till then, enjoy the barrage of best tech that we have rounded up for you.